Operation Track Shoes

I just got back from my Operation Track Shoes  Adventure!  Myself, along with the Special O group that we went with all had an amazing time! I didn`t get to blog about every day because we slept in dorms and it would be difficult to blog in them and we were so busy we had very little down time. Writing this blog is going to be writing the Rick Hansen blog as it will be so difficult to put into words what the experience was like and what our  trip to Victoria was like Victoria in general.   First and foremost, let me explain what Operation Track Shoes is.  Operation Track Shoes is an annual track meet held at the University of Victoria.  It was designed for people with disabilities to be able to participate in competitive sports in a track meet, something that they wouldn't normally get to participate in.  It was pretty cool.  Every year in my middle school a track meet was held at the end of the year.  I didn`t get to participate in the sports.  I got to be the photographer which was awesome, but I did wonder what it would be like to do the sports.  In this track meet though, I got to participate in a bunch of sports, which meant a lot to me, as I`m sure it did to many of the participants.  For many, I`m sure it was the first time they`ve gotten a ribbon for competing in a sport.  I know it was for me.  This year is the 42nd year that Operation trackshoes has been going on.  That is incredible!  Okay so now, let me give you an overview of how our trip went.  The Special O group went as one of the many teams in Track shoes.  We all met in Cranbrook and flew to Vancouver and  then to Victoria.  It was a great group.  We all got along so well together and had an awesome time.  The airport staff treated me like royalty with my wheelchair as they would whisk myself and the group away to be the first ones on the planes.  It was pretty sweet!  When we got to Victoria, we did some touring and went to an awesome beach.  We met my cousin Stephanie who lives in Victoria and wanted to hook up with us!  She was incredible.  She spent so much time with us, helped us out as much as she could and  was the perfect hostess.  Everyone loved her!  She is a pretty special cousin!  Love ya Steph! So when we to the university, we had to wait a while.  It was really busy with all sorts of people with all different abilities.  It was pretty cool to see the variety of disabilities.  Our Coach, my friend Betty Jean,was busy running around getting everything  organized.  We stayed in real university dorms.  It was cool to get a feeling of what staying in a dorm was like.  My friend Aaliyah and I bunked together which was nice.  At dinner that night, we found out who our counsellors were.  Our parents were there the whole weekend but it was like a day camp.  The whole point of the councellors was to get to be a little more independent and make new friends.  We met our counsellors at dinner, Sarah and Lisa.  They were so nice and they were only teenagers.  Lisa was a year younger than me. They were very mature for their age  They were very special girls.  The first night was karaoke night.  People got to go up on stage and sing.  We sang Justin Bieber.  There was a huge line up and we waited for a long time but eventually we got to sing.  We sang loud and had a great time!  It was worth the wait.  We had fun!  All the nights were late nights, and we got up at 6:00 in the morning!  How does that work?  Ha ha. There was an opening ceremonies where each team murch down the stree with a banner and welcome Trackshoes in.  When our team came in the annoucer annouced that we hgad come all the way from Invermere.  Everyone was preety impressed that we flew there.  Ater the Opening Ceremoies, our events began.  Every moring  we would get up and have breakfast in the big dinning hall in the university.  We would get a card of all the events we would go in that day.  I'll just mention some of the events that I did that stand out.  First, there was some wheelchair games in the gym.  When you were in there you really got to see a variety of disabilities!  Some were pretty severe.  It was an eye opener for me of how lucky I am and also show  I'm not the only one out there with a disability.  When you live in a little town, there is not as many people, especially not as many in wheelchairs, so it's nice to see that you are not the only one.   There were some obstacle courses in the gym and also a big wheelchair race where my counsellors pushed me really fast.  All right, I'll admit it!  I'm not supposed to promote being in a wheelchair as lots of fun, but I did have quite a good time being pushed that fast in my chair.  It felt pretty thrilling!  Probably, the most exciting event I went in was the swimming race.  We did it in an Olympic size swimming pool!  We had to race from one side of the pool to the other.  We had a spotter with us to help us out.  It was a little tiring, but lots of fun, and I made it all the way to the  finish line, and so did my friend Aaliyah.  That was very exciting for us.  What we have learned in Special O swimming really payed off.  On the last night, there was a big banquet dinner and a dance.  I think we danced for like three hours.  I think it got to the point where I wanted to dance but was too tired to do any more.  We were party animals for sure! Before we left, there was a big closing ceremony that announced all the winners and said what a great time we all had.  Well, we had a very busy two days, but they were lots of fun.  Everybody's already talking about coming back next year.  Special O got a grant to come here so we hope to do a few fundraisers to raise money for next year.  We had a amazing time.  The counsellors were amazing.  They were so young but they were willing to help us out and make this trip fun for us.  Track shoes is another thing for disabled kids to believe they can do anything!  It was incredible.  Thank you to my counsellors, Special O and everyone who made this event possible.  We all had so much fun and can't wait to come back next year!  It was sad to leave Track shoes, but luckily a few of us in the Special O group got to stay an extra day in Victoria an extra day.  We got to spend lots of time with Steph, my cousin, which was  very nice.  We don't get to see her alot  of so it was awesome to spend some quality tine with her.  We got to go to Empress hotel, a very fancy hotel, for tea.  They have tea every afternoon at four so we go to sneak in for that.  I've been there before in Victoria years ago.  It was just splendid.  My mom, Steph and I felt like princesses sipping our tea.  We also got to go to a restaurant that Steph is helping out with called Noodle Box.  She is really excited about working in the restaurant and is hoping to work in a franchise in Calgary.  The food was awesome!  We didn't have any because we were just at the Empress, but our group said it was delicious!  We are really proud of Steph that she got this going.  Shes a go getter.  That is for sure!  Another cool thing we got to do was go to Fisherman's Warf and feed otters.  We bought some fish and we would swirled it just above the watwer and they would jump out of the water to get it.  |I was scared at first but I thought it was really cool!  You don't see that every day in Invermere.  The rest of the weekend we hung out a lot with steph and did some shopping.  We also hung out a lot with Betty Jean and her daughter Marlow.  We had an awesome weekend.  If we come back next year we might stay an extra day in Victoria before and after Track shoes.   It was nice to see U of Vic too and see if I want to go there for Post Secondary School.  It was just a awesome trip!  Special O wants me to make up a movie of our trip to show the people that funded us what a great time we had!  Thank you to everyone that made this trip happen.  For all the kids that went, it was a trip that showed them they can do anything  they set their minds too if they just believe!